MORE than 168 million children have been affected by schools closures because of the Covid19 pandemic, data released by the United Nations Children’s Education Fund showed.

The UNICEF data also revealed that around 214 million children globally – or 1 in 7 – have missed more than three-quarters of their in-person learning.

The analysis of school closure report noted that 14 countries worldwide have remained largely closed since March 2020 to February 2021. Two-thirds of those countries are in Latin America and the Caribbean and affected nearly 98 million schoolchildren.

Of the 14 countries, Panama has kept schools closed for the most days, followed by El Salvador, Bangladesh, and Bolivia.

“As we approach the one-year mark of the Covid19 pandemic, we are again reminded of the catastrophic education emergency worldwide lockdowns have created. With every day that goes by, children unable to access in-person schooling fall further and further behind, with the most marginalized paying the heaviest price,” UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore said.

“We cannot afford to move into year two of limited or even no in-school learning for these children. No effort should be spared to keep schools open, or prioritize them in reopening plans,” Fore added.

UNICEF said school closures have devastating consequences for children’s learning and well-being. The most vulnerable children and those unable to access remote learning are at an increased risk of never returning to the classroom, and even being forced into child marriage or child labor.

The latest data from UNESCO showed that more than 888 million children worldwide continue to face disruptions to their education due to full and partial school closures.

UNICEF said majority of schoolchildren worldwide rely on their schools as a place where they can interact with their peers, seek support, access health and immunization services and a nutritious meal. The longer schools remain closed, the longer children are cut off from these critical elements of childhood.

To call attention to the education emergency and raise awareness about the need for governments to keep schools open, UNICEF on Wednesday, March 3, 2021, unveiled ‘Pandemic Classroom,’ a model classroom made up of 168 empty desks, each desk representing the million children living in countries where schools have been almost entirely closed.

“This classroom represents the millions of centers of learning that have sat empty — many for almost the entire year. Behind each empty chair hangs an empty backpack — a placeholder for a child’s deferred potential,” said Fore.

“We do not want shuttered doors and closed buildings to obscure the fact that our children’s futures are being put on indefinite pause. This installation is a message to governments: we must prioritize reopening schools, and we must prioritize reopening them better than they were before.”